Resilience in Services Value Chains
Sébastien Miroudot | 15 February 2022
Trade,
Blog | Tags:
Global Value Chains,
Resilience,
Services Trade
COVID-19 has triggered a new debate on the resilience of global value chains (GVCs) and risks associated with international production (Bonadio et al., 2020; Miroudot, 2020a). Most of this debate focuses on manufacturing and shortages of goods such as face masks or semi-conductors. This is
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A Guaranteed Win for the Climate: Sustainable Loan Guarantees and Sustainable Loan Guarantee Facilities
Andrew McConnell,
Boyan Yanovski and
Kai Lessmann | 8 February 2022
Monetary,
Blog | Tags:
Central Banks,
Climate Change,
Targeted Refinancing Lines
In order to limit global warming to the levels set in the Paris agreement, an immense amount of additional investment has to be directed into sustainable technologies – a difference of between $610 billion (IEA 2020) and $2 trillion (IRENA 2020) per year as compared
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The EU Digital Market Regulations: Rule-Maker or Deal-Breaker?
Hildegunn Kyvik Nordås,
Magnus Lodefalk and
Joakim Wernberg | 3 February 2022
Trade,
Policy Briefs | Tags:
Digitalization,
Services Trade
The digital transformation of the economy and society gives rise to a need for updated regulations and rules of the game for the digitised market.
Within the EU, this need has been reflected in a number of legislative initiatives, most recently the Digital Markets Act (DMA),
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Greening Financial Governance: Lessons from China
Peter Knaack | 13 January 2022
Monetary,
Discussion Notes | Tags:
China,
Governing Finance,
Green Finance,
Macroprudential Policy
China’s turn towards green financial governance has causes and consequences that are instructive for policymakers elsewhere. This paper traces the evolution of rules and regulations designed to guide China’s financial system towards supporting green firms and projects since the 1990s. It outlines four domestic reasons
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Double Whammy? The Impact of Trade and Automation on High-Skilled Jobs
Hildegunn Kyvik Nordås and
Franziska Klügl | 10 January 2022
Trade,
Blog | Tags:
Artificial Intelligence,
Employment,
Services
As Artificial Intelligence (AI) capabilities for language, speech and image recognition pass human levels, AI-enabled software can perform white collar tasks previously done exclusively by high-skilled humans. Furthermore, white collar jobs in rich countries could face a double whammy. Not only may AI-enabled automation transform
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From Budgetary to Tax Expenditures: Tackling Social Protection in Quebec, Canada
Ysabel Provencher,
André Gerges and
Luc Godbout | 7 January 2022
Fiscal,
Discussion Notes | Tags:
Social Protection,
Tax Expenditures
In his 2018 article "Reimagining Social Protection" Michal Rutkowski, the World Bank's Global Director for Social Protection and Jobs, highlighted the need for new social protection systems that retain their original purpose of fighting poverty, helping households manage uncertainty, and ultimately sparking a more efficient
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Trade and Consumer Prices: The Role of Competitive Transport, Communication, and Distribution Services
Hildegunn Kyvik Nordås | 21 December 2021
Trade,
Blog | Tags:
Competition,
Inflation,
Services Trade,
Transport
The recent spike in consumer price inflation has amply demonstrated that transport, logistics and distribution play a major role in bringing goods from producers to consumers in a timely and cost-effective manner. Conversely, when choke points in the logistics supply chain arise, prices skyrocket (Figure
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The WTO is Back in Business?
Jane Drake-Brockman | 10 December 2021
Trade,
Blog | Tags:
Services Trade,
Trade Governance,
WTO
The building on Lake Geneva which houses the WTO stands as the symbol of the multilateral trading system and the bastion of global non-discrimination in trade governance. Meetings held under WTO auspices, whether physical or virtual, attract global participation by all trading partners. No other
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For PBOC’s New Green Lending Tool, Transparency and Verification Are Key
Sebastian Guo | 10 December 2021
Monetary,
Op-Eds | Tags:
Central Banks,
China,
Climate Change,
Targeted Refinancing Lines
Global efforts to expedite the transition to a sustainable future require a significant shift in financial flows. The institutions governing finance play a vital role in achieving this objective. Central banks stand at the heart of this endeavor and are increasingly rising to the challenge.
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Postponing the WTO Ministerial Conference – Making the Unexpected Breathing Space a Turning Point
Oliver Braunschweig and
Hildegunn Kyvik Nordås | 6 December 2021
Trade,
Blog | Tags:
Agricultural Trade,
Health,
Services Trade,
Trade Governance,
WTO
The WTO 12th Ministerial Conference (MC12), which was due to take place in Geneva from 30 November – 3 December, was postponed indefinitely last minute due to new COVID-19 travel restrictions. Despite hectic activity on a rather modest agenda during the run-up to the event,
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